


i hope i can be a little helpful at least (i hope i can be your resting place)

by remi_mae



Series: Anthea Lin-Wayne [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_mae/pseuds/remi_mae
Summary: It hasn't been very long since Anthea came to stay at Wayne manor, being fostered by Bruce Wayne. Adjusting has been... a lot, understandably. Up until now she was an only child with a single father. Now she's the second youngest of six with a single dad and grandfather figure. The amount of attention she gets, both at the manor and at school (because everyone knows what happened to her dad,) it's uncomfortable and overwhelming. It's lead to a lot more breakdowns than Anthea would like to admit, but at least this one has let her know her foster father a little more?
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Anthea Lin-Wayne [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511444
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	i hope i can be a little helpful at least (i hope i can be your resting place)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! Hopefully this year is... way better than last year. If nothing else, I'm hoping to write more than I did last year. I guess that's my New Years Resolution? To write more. To quantify it I'm going to try and publish 12 fics this year, one for each month (I'm also going to try and plan for NaNoWriMo this year, but that's 10 months away so we'll see.)
> 
> Title from Day6's When You Love Someone

Anthea wasn't sure what to make of Bruce Wayne, not entirely. On one hand, she'd all but grown up hearing people talk about him as Gotham's airhead billionaire playboy who was lucky he had other people to keep the family business running. She'd seen interviews with him, and he managed to come off as both a genius and a complete idiot, somehow. She'd never been a gossipy person, and her father worked for Wayne Enterprises, so those were just things she heard in passing. Neighbours talked a lot, things she'd overhear on the bus or from classmates, or on talk shows when she and Misha would watch them just to make fun of the hosts.

On the other hand, Wayne Enterprises donated like, millions of dollars to dozens of charities, and not just in Gotham. Anthea had also heard _so many_ stories online of people around the city who had met Bruce Wayne and had him giving them money or advice. He'd jut randomly pay off peoples student loans because they'd done their job or been nice, would offer people jobs because he thought they'd be a good match just from talking to them for a little bit. Plus the Wayne kids were sort of proof that Bruce Wayne was a good person. The way they interacted made it obvious the adoptions had never been publicity stunts and that he genuinely loved his kids.

Really, Anthea had never doubted that he was a good man, but he was... something.

She had actually met him now and she still wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but like, for different reasons.

 _Why_ would Gotham's richest bachelor decide to foster a random Chinese-American girl about two weeks after her father was murdered. There was no reason for Bruce Wayne to even know she _existed_. Like okay, sure, her baba had worked for WE for a little more than fifteen years, but he'd never met Bruce Wayne more than in passing. Anthea was certain her father would have mentioned if he was on a first name basis with his big boss.

There was also the fact that he apparently decided to foster her shortly before or shortly after her fathers murder was solved - by Batman.

(And Anthea really didn't want to think too hard about _that one_ , lest her brain jump to the completely wrong conclusion that Bruce Wayne was Batman or something stupid like that.)

There was a lot going on in Anthea's mind. The first weeks after moving into Wayne manor were _incredibly_ stressful. Anthea had never really done well with change, at least in part due to her anxiety. Here she was trying to balance adjusting to Wayne manor and the Wayne family, plus school and everything that came with her classmates knowing her father had been murdered. She'd thought starting at Gotham Academy had been hard, but at least then she had Emil starting at the same time as her, even if he'd only been in one of her classes at the time. At least she'd had someone she already knew. She didn't have that now.

Alfred was a saint, in her opinion. Between him and Tim, who she clicked with almost instantly, Anthea felt if she needed something, she could tell one of them without being anxious. Well, maybe not without being anxious, because that was honestly Anthea's default setting it felt like. She had no fear of judgement at least.

Everyone else was... a lot. To put it mildly.

Dick was practically the complete opposite of her, Jason was incredibly intimidating and seemed to avoid her at all costs, Cassandra didn't really talk and Anthea didn't know any sign language so they couldn't really talk, and Damian was, well... the less said about Damian the better.

Bruce somehow managed to pull off hovering and barely being around, which honestly? Weirdly reminded her of her dad. Not because her dad was distant on purpose but he'd been busy a lot. He worked long hours, so between his work schedule and Anthea's school schedule, they didn't actually get to spend a lot of time together. What time was spend together though, Anthea never doubted that everything her dad did was for her.

Bruce kind of gave her the same vibe, which was weird! Especially since she'd not known him very long yet. She didn't even feel like that with Misha's parents, and she knew for a fact they loved her. She was the Tseng's honourary niece, and she knew if they'd been able to afford it, they would have adopted her in a heartbeat. But she didn't get the same 'I would do anything and everything for you' vibes with them that she got from her dad, and now from Bruce.

Admittedly, it did take a few weeks to really notice.

When she wasn't at school, Anthea spend like 99% of the time in her room, because she knew she would be left alone there, with the exception of Alfred making sure she came to meals. If she left her door open a little Dick and Tim knew it was okay to knock, to come in and talk to her, but if it was closed all the way she didn't want to be bothered if possible. Usually she was working on homework, or talking to Misha, but there were definitely times (entire evenings or just an hour or two) when she just... wasn't up to socializing, even just with the people she had to live with.

This meant, of course, that it wasn't weird or unusual for her to get back from school and to immediately shut herself in her room. Whether she'd had a bad day or an okay day, no one would be able to tell - or so she thought.

Thinking about it later, she maybe should have seen it coming. Not only would Alfred almost certainly pick up on it on the drive back to the manor, but Bruce had five other children. Anything she did, he'd probably seen before. Coming home from school and shutting herself in her room after a bad day? That was normal for a teenager and she was sure Bruce had seen it dozens of times.

As it was, school mostly didn't change. People didn't know who was fostering her, because that would bring all the wrong type of attention. Everyone knew her dad had been murdered though. It had been on the news, and even if they didn't connect it because of the surname Lin, the news reports had pointed out that Harrison Lin's teenage daughter, who attended Gotham Academy, had been the one to discover his body. She'd been out of school for two days after, staying with Misha and his parents before they moved her into the dorms. When she came back she had withdrawn from the handful of friends that she had, with Emil really being the only one she spoke to. No one else got it and didn't know how to act around her (and Emil knew all too well what it was like.)

Eventually it all got to be too much, her own emotions and the way her classmates treated her, and when Anthea got back to the manor after school one day, she didn't even bat an eye at anyone before going to her room.

She was so caught up in her thoughts and anxieties that she didn't notice Bruce giving her a concerned look - hell, she didn't even notice that he'd been home earlier than he should be.

It wasn't until about an hour later that there was a quiet knock at her door, which pulled her from her stupor. She'd sat on her bed after dropping her school bag on the floor and hadn't moved since. She hadn't realized how long it had been until she looked at the clock, wondering if it was Alfred coming to get her for dinner.

"Anthea? It's Bruce. Do you mind if I come in?" That was a no to it being Alfred then.

She blinked a few times at the door, almost debating whether or not she answered it.

Bruce had told her that no one would come into her room if she didn't want them too, unless they were worried she was hurt or sick. All she had to do was say 'no, I don't want you to come in' and he wouldn't.

That didn't mean Bruce would leave though, plus she'd have to face him sooner rather than later anyway.

So, Anthea slid off her bed, padded over to the door and opened it.

(Opening her bedroom door - her bedroom in _Wayne manor_ \- to have _Bruce Wayne_ standing there, in casual clothes no less, was _weird_.)

"Can I come in?" Bruce gave her a gentle smile, one that she hated to admit reminded her of her dad. She didn't say that though. She didn't say anything, but didn't close the door when she went back to her bed.

Bruce took it as the invitation it was.

He didn't come to sit beside her though, like she half though he would. He closed the door behind him, but stayed near it, giving her space.

"Are you doing okay?" He asked. Though he sounded a little unsure when he asked, like he wasn't sure if that was the question he should be asking. And honestly? Anthea wasn't even sure of the answer.

So she shrugged, not quite trusting that her voice would cooperate with her, even just to say 'I don't know.'

Bruce gave a little nod. "That's fair."

He took a few steps closer, small ones, and when she didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable, moved closer again.

"How do you like the manor?" She wasn't sure if he wasn't sure what to ask, or if he was trying to make her comfortable by asking relatively easy questions.

"S'nice," she said, and it was the truth. The manor was gorgeous. She'd lived in the same apartment her entire life, and it had been home, but it was simple and plain. They'd never bothered painting or with putting up much art, aside from drawings Anthea had done as a child. The manor was the opposite, and it was a lot, but it was so nice. " _Way_ too big, but it's nice." Her voice wasn't very loud, but at least the words came out.

"I've been told it's a lot," Bruce gave a little laugh, "there lots of places to hide when you really want to be left alone thought."

It was true - and the fact that she had decided her room was the best place to hide when she was having a bad probably said something about whether or not she really wanted to be left alone.

"It's... it's been a long few weeks." Anthea settled for saying, pulling her legs up to her chest.

Bruce didn't reply, but came to sit beside her. He sat there, and didn't reach out to hug her or anything, just sat there. Letting her know he was there for her, but not pushing it. Letting her reach out first. Exactly like her dad.

That thought proved to be the final straw, and Anthea found her vision getting blurry.

"Anthea?" She looked down at her lap, shaking her head as she tried to find her voice again.

"I just miss him so much," she finally managed to say, fighting to hold back tears.

She thought she heard Bruce let out a quiet "oh, honey," but she wasn't entirely sure. She knew she heard his next words though.

"That'll never go away. He's your dad, and you'll always miss him. But it'll get easier to live with. I can promise you that."

Anthea nodded, sniffling, before she all but threw herself at Bruce. He froze for a moment, probably not expecting it - honestly Anthea surprised _herself_ \- but he adjusted quickly and pulled her closer.

Bruce didn't hug her the same way her dad did, but it was comforting none the less. Later she would almost certainly find it embarrassing, because she was practically sitting on Bruce's lap and she was crying all over him but for now...

For now she just felt like a daughter being hugged by her father - which was a thought she would shove away and deal with later, because she did not have the energy for _that_ breakdown as well, not right now.

Every time she thought she was completely cried out, she seemed to have another breakdown. It was probably normal, though she'd quite like it to _stop_. She'd already ended up crying while talking to Dick the other night, and now she was literally crying all over Bruce. Plus! Tim and Alfred had caught her on the tail end of a long cry at least three times between the two of them.

The attention for that was not something she wanted, thank you very much.

As it was, Anthea just wasn't used to the attention she got at Wayne manor. She was just a foster kid, and yet Tim would talk to her as though he expected her to always be around from now on. And, okay, maybe Bruce's track record when it came to foster kids being adopted was four out of four, so it could be assumed that Anthea would end up being adopted and staying forever, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

Having more than one persons attention on her was a lot. Damian clearly didn't like her (he saw her as another person taking Bruce's attention away from him, according to Dick.) Jason seemed to run away from her a lot of the time (for as of yet to be discovered reasons.) She had no way to effectively talk to Cassandra (that didn't involve someone else translating ASL for her, which didn't seem fair for anyone involved.) She wasn't at all close to any of them (yet) but that didn't mean their attention wasn't on her if they were in the same room.

Anthea grew up an only child of a single (widower) father. She just wasn't used to so many peoples attention at once.

One on one wasn't so bad, she was coming to learn. If it took having one on one moments to get to know her foster family, she'd take it.

Hopefully none of the rest of them would involve crying though.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, I basically have no idea what the plot for this was. I mean "Anthea and Bruce bonding", obviously, but even that I feel like barely came through. I might write another version of this later, or just a part two, once I figure out how to write Bruce a bit better so then he'll actually be a bigger part of the fic.


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